


Of Life and Death

by sympathetic_deceit_trash



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bisexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon Trans Character, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Genderfluid Character, Lesbian Character, M/M, Magic, Other, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 11:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17745458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sympathetic_deceit_trash/pseuds/sympathetic_deceit_trash
Summary: Death is a lesbian. Part of life is a bi girl, and the other is a trans gay guy. What more could you want?





	1. Summary

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a cis girl, so I probably won't be completely accurate with some of the trans stuff or genderfluid stuff.

Jacklyn Reaper is Death, in every sense of the way. Her full title is "Jacklyn Thanatos Reaper, goddess of death, darkness, and the cold." Her full title is wrong in several ways. First of all, it was way too long for her liking. Second of all, she was not a goddess. She...she couldn't explain what she was. A force of nature. Jacklyn-No, Jackie. Jackie was here long before anyone else. Long before humans, before dinosaurs, before the Life Twins. Back when the Earth was created. She is the least popular force of nature, and the most hated. She will most likely be there long past when the Earth ends.

Lila and Joey Green are the Life Twins. They are extremely popular, well liked, and they have many friends. Lila and Joey despise Jacklyn, despite not ever having gotten to know her. Who would want to get to know Death?

Lila ends up seeing another side of Death, other than the sarcastic, smart allec that everyone hates.


	2. ⓟⓡⓞⓛⓞⓖⓤⓔ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life meets Death for the first time.

Lila's forest green eyes scanned that area, the short white cloak she wore flowing a bit in the chilly wind. The white cloak only went down to her waist, and her twin brother Joey had a matching one. 

The similarities didn't end there, obviously, as they were identical twins.

Beyond their looks, they only shared one trait otherwise; They were the embodiments of life. Despite this, their personalities were different. Not opposites, perse, but different.

But that didn't matter at the moment, as the twins had finally found what they were looking for. Here, in this cold, dark and bleary woods, they had found the embodiment of death.

Their face was hidden in shadows and covered with the black hood of the cloak they wore. In contrast to the twins, their cloak was long and covered their entire body. It flowed as if underwater and the edges of it were ripped and tattered. Shadows curled and flowed around them, as if they were pets. A few of them even swirled around the blade of their scythe.

"Death." Lila greeted in a flat tone, very different from her usual peppy one. Death's head tilted slightly.

"L͡͠į̡̛f̵e͟͡ ͘t͝w̧̧iņ͜s̷̷.̵" Their voice was distorted and hard to make out. Lila and her brother glanced at each other.

"We finally found you," Joey said, "you despicable being."

"Yo̵̢u̶ ͘͡w̢e̛͘͢re͠ s͞ea̷r̶̛͜c͢h̵̷͏i̵n̶g͟͝ f̡̢̕ǫr ̧͝m͟͠ę?̸ ̶͢I'm͡ ͜͜͏f͜͝͝latt̵̴̕er͜e̷d̕͟.̵͜͡" Death commented sarcastically in response, "h̷͟o͝ņ̸e̕s͏t͜͞ļ̧y̧̕͢.̵͟"

"Enough with your sarcasm!" Joey seethed.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Lila asked. "For all the horrible things you've done?" There was a beat of silence as the twins waited for an answer that wasn't going to come.

"No?" Joey questioned, clearly appalled. "The least you could do is answer me, monster. Don't you know how rude it is to not reply?"

"Ḑ̕ơ͏͜n̷̢'t͢͝ ͏y̸ou̶̷ ͟͜k̡̨n̛o̡̡̧w͝ how ͠r̡u̡d̢e ̨i͢t ͢i̢s ͞t̷̴̴o ̡c̴o͜͏͏m̴͝e ̢͞į̸̧nt̵̨͏o̕ ̡͏m̴͟y̨̕͡ woo͝d͟s̴̴͘ ̴̢̛j̶̧ust͡ ͘͞͏t̸̵͝o͝ s͘t͟a͢r͜͢t ̧͠i̶̕͝n̶͢s̡͞u̵͜l͘͢͞t̵̶i͘n̶̕g ͏me?" Death shot back in retort, a slight hiss in their voice. Lila swallowed as she felt the air around them all drop a few degrees before rising again as Death seemed to relax once more.

Oh. Right. Lila forgot that Death was also the embodiment of cold along with darkness and of course, death.

"Are you aware of how much misery you've caused?" Lila asked, glaring at the hooded figure.

"Precisely! Men like you-" Joey started.

"M͏̷e̸̢̧n̶͜?̕͞" Death interrupted, tilting their head again. Both twins blinked, sharing a confused look. "Yo͝u͜͡ ̴̶͜t̴̸ḩin̶k̵͝ ̢̕͟I̡͟͏'̡m̡̛ ͡a͏ ̧m̡̢ą̕͟l͏e͡." Their glitchy and distorted voice sounded amused. A paper white hand slipped out from their cloak, reaching for their hood.

"W̷̶̨e̴l̡l͏̢̛,̡͞ ̢͟t̶w̢͏i̶̷͝ns̕͠,̨ s͘o̷̢r̴͡r͡y̶͝ ͟͝t̡̨o ̢d̷i̛s̨͠appoint," Lila noticed their voice became clearer when their hood came off, and if she'd been paying attention she would've realized their voice was that of a young woman's and soft as freshly fallen snow. But she wasn't paying attention. "But I am no man."

Lila's breath caught in her throat.

Death was most definitely female- and she was gorgeous.

Her skin was as pale as snow and her short hair framed her freckle littered face. Death's eyes were odd; dark as coal with specks of gray and silver, like stars.

Joey elbowed Lila in the side, bringing her back from just staring blankly with a flushed face.

"Uh- well, that- that doesn't matter!" She managed, crossing her arms. Death tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow at Lila's stutter. Joey glanced at her, but otherwise kept his gaze on Death.

"Exactly! You're still a horrible being." Joey agreed.

"Get out of my woods." Death said flatly, completely ignoring the twins' comments as she started pulling her hood back up.

"But-"

"O̡̧̕U̸͘͏T̷̕.̸̧͘͡" Joey went to protest but shut his mouth, looking at Lila as the temperature dropped significantly. Lila looked back at him, pulling her short white cloak closer to herself. When the twins looked back, there was nothing there but shadows creeping ever closer as if trying to urge them out.

And so they did. Joey grabbed Lila's hand hand and she was grateful for the warmth her brother provided but she didn't stay thinking about it. Then, the Life twins were gone with nothing but a puff of green smoke and a single tulip growing from the nearly frozen ground left behind.


	3. ⓞⓝⓔ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie just wanted some chips.

Jacklyn Reaper rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with a soft thump. She groaned softly, staying there for a moment before opening her black eyes and staring up at the yellowing white ceiling of her organized mess of a room.

After a brief second of lying on the carpeted floor of her room, Jackie sat up and stretched. She grunted as she felt a pop in her shoulder, getting to her feet and looking around for a clean t-shirt and if she was lucky, a clean pair of jeans as well.

Luckily for her, Luna had done the laundry recently and Jackie found a black "Retired Emo Kid" tee and faded blue jeans to throw on. She snatched up her black hoodie that she wore over everything as a shadow opened her bedroom door for her. Why did people forget that along with death and the cold, she was also the embodiment of shadows and the dark?

Now that cloaks had, unfortunately, gone out of style, Jackie had swapped it in place of her hoodie. Hoodies were modern day cloaks, to her. She yawned as she stepped out of her room, her tired gaze lazily sweeping across the upstairs of her house. The door to her room clicked shut behind her.

Jackie sighed, shuffling over to the bathroom and continuing inside without even hesitating as a shadow opened the door for her and shut it behind her, even turning on the lights for her as she looked in the mirror. Her black hair was a mess, sticking up in the wrong directions and having tangled knots in it.

Might as well fix that, she supposed. Otherwise Luna will get on my case.

Once her hair was combed and didn't look like a total disaster, she trudged downstairs tiredly, glancing at the time on her phone. 11:07? She was up early. Warmth rubbing against her leg caught her attention, looking down to be met with familiar silver eyes and the purring of a cat.

"Hey, Luna. What's up?"

"You're up early." The cat said, padding on their paws behind Jackie's legs. Turning around, Jackie lifted a lazy smile at the sight of an dark skinned 11 year old with curly black hair that framed their face in place of the black cat. Still the same ever familiar silver eyes.

"Yeah, guess so." She shrugged, watching as Luna hummed and blew a tuft of hair out of their sparkling eyes.

"Don't forget to eat breakfast, mistress." Jackie scoffed at 'mistress' but she was used to it by now. Having saved Luna from a cruel master, the servant shapeshifter insisted on being here servant. Jackie didn't have the heart to tell them no and crush the hopeful look in those eyes.

"I know, I know. Why don't you go watch something and relax?" She commented as she walked into the kitchen to get a bagel and cream cheese.

"Okay!" Luna chirped. Jackie hummed and made herself breakfast as the TV clicked on. Jackie smiled nonchalantly, yawning. She made herself breakfast, halfheartedly reminding herself about her job. Another day, another death.

•

Jackie jolted awake from her nap, nearly falling off the couch. She took the comic book off of her face, sitting up and checking the time. To be fair, she had done her work for today. She stretched and stood, finding Luna curled up in cat form behind the couch. Jackie nudged Luna with her foot.

"Hey, Luna? I'm gonna go get some chips." She said. Luna mumbled something and nodded groggily. Jackie rolled her eyes fondly and turned, walking into the shadows.

She stepped out near the small but popular town of Aeredale.

Ugh. Aeredale. Aeredale was the town for beings like her.

Well.

Not like her. Beings like the embodiment of Love, Joy, Friendship, Adoration, even the Sky.

And, of course, the Life twins, Joseph and Lila Green.

So yeah, not like her, but other embodiments.

Jackie hated Aeredale. She couldn't walk down the street without confrontation because oh, she must be trying to cause harm.

She sighed and flipped her hood up. Jackie cracked her neck, then trudged down the street with her head down and eyes on the ground. Maybe if she just ignored the stares and the way people scrambled out of the way, she could just get her chips without any problems.

She was so close. Just a little further.

Just as Jackie thought she'd be able to get her way for once, someone tugged at her hoodie.

"Miss?"

God dammit.

Jackie sighed and turned, looking down to meet a pair of crystal blue eyes. A little girl with a perfect heart shaped face, perfectly placed freckles, perfectly peach skin, and dirty blonde hair that perfectly framed her face stared back at her.

Perfect, perfect, perfect.

God, was everyone in this town perfect? Jackie really was the antithesis of this place, wasn't she?

"Miss?"

"U̴h͘- ̷͝ye͠a̶̡h͏?̛" Jackie asked in her distorted voice. Surprisingly, the kid didn't flinch.

"Could you help me find my mom?"

"Y̶ơu̴͘ ̴͝w͏͝an̷͢t͠ ̢m̸͝e̡̛ ̵͠t̢͡o ̕what̢͘?̶" Jackie blinded owlishly.

"Help me find my mom." The girl stuck out her hand. "My name's Annie, I'm Friendship. My mom is Samantha, Love, and my Dad is Adoration, Gabriel." She said simply but firmly. Jackie stared at her for a few more moments before finally slipping her gloved hand into Annie's and shaking it. She pulled her hood down when Annie dropped her hand.

"I'm...Jackie."

"What do you represent?" Annie questioned, cocking her head. Jackie winced.

"Nothing too important, kid. You said your mom is Love?"

"Yep!" Annie chirped, grinning with perfect pearly white teeth at Jackie. That explained the kid's perfect looks. 

"Got it. And you don't know your address?" She asked, frowning when Annie shook her head.

"Awesome..." Aeredale was a pretty big town. 

Jackie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. How was she going to find this kid's parents when she barely knew anything about this place?

God, all she wanted was some chips...

And then someone screamed.


	4. ⓣⓦⓞ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila has a small encounter that makes her realize Death isn't just Death, so she goes looking and finds there's a lot more to her than anticipated.

Lila turned around quickly at the sound of a scream, her two blonde braids whipping around with her.

The scream had come from someone she didn't know, but recognized. They were pointing at the side of a street and Lila followed to see a little girl she remembered as her friend Samantha's daughter, Annie, talking with none other than Death herself.

Oh.

Crap.

Lila bolted over, braids trailing behind her and smacking against her back as she came to a halt.

"Hey!"

Death looked up and immediately pulled her hood back up, covering her beautiful face.

Wait- beautiful?

Uh- nevermind.

Death looked up and immediately pulled her hood back up, covering her face.

"Oh, hi Ms. Lila!" Annie chirped, waving.

"Annie, get away from her." Lila said, grabbing Annie's arm and pulling her away. Death said nothing and didn't move, hands in the pockets of her hoodie.

"But she was helping me!" Annie insisted, struggling in Lila's grip. Death tilted her head.

"I'm ̵sur̢e sh̕e̴ ̧c̕a͜n̶ he̢lp ̨yo̡u̕ n̸ow,̴ a̛lr͟i̕gh̵t,̴ ̡k͜id?͘." She turned, starting to leave, but Annie spoke up once more.

"Will I ever see you again? You seem fun."

Death paused, not looking back.

"W͏͏h̸͞at̡?͡" 

"Annie, honey, she's Death." Lila explained, leading Annie away by the shoulders. Annie protested and turned around, but Death had vanished, leaving nothing but a few wispy shadows, and Lila recalled their first meeting.

"I don't see the big deal, she didn't seem mean at all." Annie huffed. "She was trying to help me find-"

"Annie!" Gabriel's voice exclaimed, sounding relieved. Lila smiled.

"Hey Gabe." She greeted as Gabe swept his child up into his arms, spinning around so fast the little girl's legs flew out a bit. Annie giggled, almost forgetting about Death.

Almost.

"Lila, thank you so much." Gabe smiled.

"You're welcome. Keep a better eye on her, I found her talking to....to..."

"To?" Gabe prompted.

"Jackie!" Annie announced. Both Lila and Gabe were confused now, but soon it clicked. Death's name was Jackie.

"Oh." Lila murmured before clearing her throat. "She was talking to Death." Gabriel went silent for a moment, his electric blue eyes widening.

"Annie...Annie, Death is a horrible person. You can't trust her. At all." He said softly, starting to slowly walk off with his daughter.

Lila paused at his words, starting to get rather curious. What was Death actually like? They'd never talked or interacted outside of their first meeting or the occasional confrontation in town, but other than that, she had no clue...

She paused, chewing her plump bottom lip. Joey wouldn't like it if he knew...so she wouldn't tell him!

With that thought, Lila grinned and disappeared, a poof of green smoke and a growing daisy left behind.

•

The door was wooden and had peeling gray paint on it, standing out against the black painted house it was on. Lila was currently standing on the porch, which had a worn, dark gray rug and a few plastic chairs. Oddly enough, a few rocks were there, too, with colorful, childish paintings on them.

Lila shifted her weight from one foot to the other, biting her lip again as her fist hovered in front of the door.

She was stalling, she knew this, but she should just knock and get it over with.

Sighing, she finally knocked twice, sharp and quick. At first, there was nothing, so she knocked again.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, Lila glanced behind her, contemplating leaving. She went to turn, only for the door to crack open and a pair of silver eyes peered up at her.

"Yes?"

"Uh- hey, is Death here?"

"Who are you?" The child asked, around 10 to 12 years old appearance wise. Lila blinked.

"Oh- my name is Lila Green. I'm one of the embodiments of life." She greeted. The young one looked up at her blankly for a moment before shutting the door in Lila's face without another word.

She stared at the wooden door for a moment in shock. Well, maybe she should go-

The door opened again and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Death's dark eyes, sparkling like the starry night sky.

"What do you want?"

"I- uh, I wanted to hang out." Lila was only half lying. Death squinted, eyeing Lila suspiciously for a moment.

"You want- what? With who?" Death asked hesitantly, her eyes searching Lila's face in what appeared to be genuine confusion.

"You. Duh. Are you gonna let me in or are we going to talk like this the whole time?" She joked, trying to lighten the mood and do something about the tension in the air.

"Where's your brother? Are you planning an ambush or somethin'?"

"What? No! Look-" Lila played with her braids, toeing at the floor with one foot. "Look, uh, Death, I just want to hang out, you and me, so we can get to know each other better!"

"...oh." Death blinked. "Um- alright, but I don't really- I've never had actual company over before, so..." She mumbled. "Just- let me unlock the door." She shut the door, lightly this time.

That was easier than expected, but Lila wondered what she'd gotten herself into.

The door swung open and she finally got a good look at Death. She didn't look particularly menacing; just a young woman in black boots, faded and ripped blue jeans and a black hoodie. A black choker donned her neck, but other than her outfit change, Death's appearance was identical to the last time Lila had seen her, with her brother in these very woods.

She was different in demeanor, however, as she shifted her weight awkwardly and fidgeted with her hands. 

"So, uh," Death cleared her throat, "you wanna come inside?"

Lila hummed and nodded, fixing her frilly skirt and following Death inside. The living room was mostly clean, aside from black fur all over. There was a bowl of chips on the coffee table and some superhero movie was playing on the TV.

This wasn't the evil lair Lila had always thought Death lived in.

"So, uh, who was-" She paused and glanced down, seeing a black cat staring up at her, "-who was that kid at the door?" 

"You're looking at 'em." Death snorted and crouched, picking the cat up. "Meet Luna. They're a shapeshifter and technically my 'servant' since I saved them from an abusive master, but it's whatever, y'know? More like family." From the way she babbled, Lila guessed she didn't talk to other people much...which made sense.

"A shapeshifter?" Lila cocked her head to the side, recognizing the silver eyes of the cat as the same ones belonging to the child. "Cool."

"Thanks!" The cat--Luna--chirped, doing their best to grin at Lila. It just looked odd, as they were currently a cat, but she appreciated the attempt.

Lila blinked, watching Luna leap up to Death's shoulder with their tail swaying steadily, but Death moved on before she could say anything.

"Are you hungry?"


End file.
